
aass_S^ 




FRANK BURTON MILLER 



/ 



THE 



MILLER FAMILY 



7^/ 

AN ADDRESS "^O 



DELIVERED BEFORE THE 
MILLER FAMILY RE-UNION ASSOCIATION 
AT NORTH WALDOBORO, MAINE 
SEPTEMBER 7, 1904 



BY FRANK BURTON MILLER 

MEMBER OF THE MAINE HISTORICAL SOCIETY 



'< CONSIDER THE DAYS OF MANY GENERATIONS " 



People will not look forward to posterity who never look backward to their ancestry." 

^ — Edmund Burke 



ROCKLAND, MAINE 

THE CASLON PRESS PRINT 

1909 



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I 



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FOREWORD 




ORE than two decades have passed since I con- 
ceived the idea of writing a genealogical history of 
the Miller Family of Waldoboro, Maine. I have 
ever been an earnest and persistent delver in the 
mines of local and family history. It is to me as 
much a recreation as fishing is to some, and billiards 
is to others. My thoughts were first turned to an 
investigation of the sources of my ancestry during a 
temporary residence in Waldoboro, and when the 
years were not so crowded with duties as now. While there, I passed 
the Old German Church-yard at least twice a day. Curiosity at last 
impelled me to enter its ancient gateway, and wander along its somber 
paths and lengthning avenues. An inspection of the numerous head- 
stones in that rapidly growing community of the dead, revealed to me 
that beneath the mounds which they marked, the "apathetic and un- 
conscious ashes" of several generations of Millers "sleep in cold 
obstruction and insensible oblivion." 

After unremitting research and patient investigation, prosecuted at 
times under discouraging conditions, I have accumulated material 
sufficient to make a respectable volume in size, but I am unable to pre 
sent it in a connected form owing to an indifference on the part of many 
members of the family to furnish the necessary data. This incomplete- 
ness coupled with the expense of publication, has deterred me from 
proceeding further in the matter. This little volume is the out-growth 
of an address delivered by me as President of the Miller Family Re- 
union Association, at North Waldoboro, September 7, 1904. Although 
repeated requests have been made to publish the address, yet it was not 
until George H. Miller of Holyoke, Mass., came forward with a proposi- 
sition to bear a substantial part of the expense, that I gave the matter 
any serious consideration. For his generous contribution and sympa- 
thetic support, he deserves not only my own grateful acknowledgment, 
but the appreciative regard of those who are interested in preserving the 
address in permanent form. 

I would suggest that the recipients of this pamphlet carefully ex- 
amine it, correct any errors that maybe detected therein, on blank leaves 



to be inserted in their proper places, and add such information thereto 
which will make the history of the family more interesting and com- 
plete, with the object in view, that at some future time, the pamphlets 
be called in and another edition published to make as correct as possible 
a publication of this kind. As I have gone so far in the undertaking, I 
■would further suggest that all pamphlets which have been corrected and 
to which any new or additional material has been added, be returned to 
me by July 1, 1910. Upon their receipt I will copy the added informa- 
tion, and return the pamphlets to the senders. 

I have supplemented this address with a few sketches of members 
of different branches of the family, in the hope that their appearance at 
this time may incite the indifferent to action, and awaken renewed 
interest among those who have materially aided me in the past in 
gathering and furnishing material for a family history, and which I 
trust may be published in the not far distant future. If this end is at- 
tained, I shall feel that my efforts, however imperfectly performed, will 
be a sufficient reward for the time and labor spent in the undertaking. 

Rockland, Maine, August 1, 1909. 

Frank Burton Mili^er. 




THE MILLER FAMILY 



PART ONE 



THE SETTLING OF WALDOBORO 



''Westward the course of empire takes its way; 

The first four acts already past, 
A fifth shall close the drama with the day; 

Time's noblest offspring is the last." 

— Bhhop Berkley. 



The year 1753 was an uneventful one in the annals of 
history. The Old World was enjoying a state of tranquility 
and repose which, however, was soon to be terminated by the 
agency of war, whose potentious clouds were then fast gath- 
ering in the political skies. The final struggle between France 
and England for supremacy in America was at hand. The 
colonists were arming to protect themselves, and to give Eng- 
land important assistance in the impending conflict. With 
this great event, the separate histories of the colonies were 
lost in the more general history of the nation. The year 
came to a close with Washington, then a youth of twenty-one, 
bearing to General St. Pierre, commander of the French 
forces, in the West, a message setting forth the nature and 
extent of the English claim to the valley of the Ohio, and 
solemnly warning the authorities of France against further 



10 THE MILLER FAMILY 

intrusion into that region. Elsewhere all things were in a 
state of fancied security and repose, while "peace had her vic- 
tories no less renowned than war." 

Uneventful as was the year to the writer of history, it is 
of exceptional interest to the great body of citizens of Waldo- 
boro, and more especially to that branch of "The Miller Fam- 
ily' ' in America who find their names and deeds imprinted 
upon the pages of this unpretentious volume. Why this year, 
more than any other year which preceded or followed it, is 
surrounded with special interest, the following pages will aim 
to disclose. 

The council of Plymouth by an original patent, dated 
March 23, 1630, granted to John Beauchamp of London, and 
Thomas Everett of Boston, England, a tract of land in Maine, 
bounded by the Penobscot on the east and the Medomak on 
the west. This region embraced an area of nine hundred 
square miles- By a series of events and for eminent services 
rendered, the proprietors surrendered to General Samuel 
Waldo, about 1732, half of the patent. Waldo was born in 
England in 1695; and when he first became interested in the 
affairs of this section of our state, was a merchant of Boston, 
Massachusetts. As these lands would increase in value by 
occupation, Waldo exerted every energy to induce emigrants 
to settle upon them. Through his efforts twenty or thirty 
German families were induced, in 1748, to leave their father- 
land and build new homes on the inhospitable coast of Maine. 
In 1751, this colony was increased by the arrival of several 
more German families. They came from the highlands of 
Germany where wine was abundant, and bitterly complained 
of the want of it here. No doubt many a brave old Teuton, 
as his imagination was busy with the scenes of the past, 
sighed as did old Cobbler Keezar: 

"O for the breath of vineyards. 

Of apples and nuts and wine! 
For an oar to row and a breeze to blow 

Down the grand old river Rhine!" 



THE MII,I,ER FAMILY 11 



In 1753, Samuel Waldo, son of General Waldo, aided his 
father's schemes of colonization by visiting Germany and cir- 
culating proclamations inviting further emigration. A trans- 
lation of a copy of this proclamation gives a good idea of 
Waldo's offer to induce emigration. The desirableness of the 
location, the salubrity of the climate, and fertility of the soil, 
were described in glowing colors. It promised that to every 
division of one hundred and twenty families, there should 
be given to the church two hundred acres of land; to the first 
preacher settling among them, two hundred acres; and to 
each family one hundred acres. And this land, provided they 
should dwell upon it seven whole years, either in person or 
through a substitute, should be guaranteed to them, their 
heirs and assigns forever, without their having to make the 
slightest recompense or to pay any interest thereon. It pro- 
vided that unmarried persons of twenty-one years and up- 
wards, who embraced these offers, should receive one hundred 
acres, and be regarded as a family. Further provision was 
made for their necessary support for from four to six months, 
according as they arrived early or late in the season; and the 
first families "going thither" were to be allowed to "select 
their residences, either in seaport or on navigable rivers." 

Sixty families in different parts of the valley of the 
Rhine immediately made preparations to emigrate. Leaving 
their native homes, some of them travelled more than twenty 
miles by land, descended the Rhine in small boats to Dussel- 
dorf, where they waited for others to arrive, and then pro- 
ceeded to Amsterdam. Embarking on board a ship, they left 
the city in June, but touched at Cowes on the Isle of Wight, 
where several of their numbers died and were buried. From 
Cowes they sailed to Portsmouth, and thence proceeded to St. 
Georges river. At Pleasant Point, in Gushing, they were 
transferred to a sloop as close as they could stand, and were 
carried round to Broad Bay. They arrived in September, 
1753, and according to the third condition of Waldo's circular 



12 THE MILI^ER FAMILY 

should have received six month's support. Yet they were left 
wholly unprovided for. A few found shelter among their 
countrymen who came there before them; others were 
crowded into a house near where the Waldoboro town house 
now is; but the greater number were put into a large shed 
erected for that purpose. This shed was west of the street 
running to Kaler's corner in the field owned by the late 
Charles P. Willett. It was sixty feet long, without chimneys, 
and utterly unfit for human habitation. Here these destitute 
people, deserted by their patron, dragged out a winter of 
inconceivable suffering. Seventeen died from exposure and 
starvation, or from disease induced by their privations; and 
their graves may be seen at this day in the above mentioned 
field. The old settlers were to poorly supplied themselves to 
render the new comers much assistance. They gladly worked 
a day for a quart of buttermilk, and when they obtained a 
quart of meal for a day's labor, the compensation was consid- 
ered a great boon. Many of their children were put out to 
service at Damariscotta and at St. Georges. With hunting 
and fishing they were unacquainted, and clams seem to have 
been the only article they were able to obtain for themselves. 
These, with the addition of a little meal, were made into a 
kind of soup. Some of these emigrants brought money with 
them, but even they were unable to procure food so great was 
its scarcity. 

It must be remembered that they were situated in a wil- 
derness with here and there a feeble settlement. Railroads 
were unknown and even common wagon roads had not been 
built; and the electric telegraph was not in readiness to flash 
to the more populous parts of the country, the intelligence 
that a colony of people were starving at Broad Bay. Thus 
the dreary winter months passed away and spring opened 
before the provisions, which they should have received on 
their arrival, were distributed. 

Charles Leistner was then appointed by Waldo to dispose 



THE MILLER FAMILY 13 

of the emigrants and deal out the provisions, which, probably, 

were transported by water as soon as the river was opened. 

I^eistner was a man of education, and exercised the powers of 

a magistrate; but he worked for his own interest rather than 

for those under his charge. They accused him of selling for 

his own benefit the food which had been furnished for them; 

and he also showed great injustice in the allotment of their 

farms. Instead of the "hundred acres on the sea coast where 

wood would bring four shillings per cord," they were taken 

back nearly two miles westward from the river, and assigned 

only half an acre of land which afterwards proved not to 

belong to Waldo. 

Such, in brief, were the hardships endured by the early 

settlers, but they met them all with a courage equal to that 

exhibited by the Pilgrim fathers. By steady perseverance 

and indomitable energy, they cleared those wooded hills and 

dales, which only a short time before were the rude and 

lonely habitation of the white man's relentless foe. From 

those clearings there soon rose many a humble cabin, and 

among the blackened stumps the golden harvest smiled. 

Mingled with the hallowed voice of the man of God, were 

childhood's happy tones caught up and borne away by the 

softened winds of spring. 3uch men of heroic mould and 

dauntless courage are the uncrowned nobility of the world. 

They laid secure and deep the foundations of the republic, 

and with the record which crowned their life work of toil and 

endeavor, have attested to the truth of the poet's assertion, 

that 

"Toiling hands alone are builders, 

Of a nation's wealth and fame." 
We can best picture to the reader how Waldoboro ap- 
peared to the "rude forefathers" by calling his attention to 
the following extract from "Cobbler Keezar's Vision:" 
"Woodsy and wild and lonesome, 

The swift stream wound away. 
Through birches and scarlet maples 
Flashing in foam and spray. 



14 THE MILLER FAMILY 



( ( 



Down on the sharp-horned ledges 

Plunging in steep cascade, 
Tossing its white-maned waters 

Against the hemlock's shade. 

Woodsy and wild and lonesome, 

East and west and north and south; 
Only the village of fisher's 
Down at the river's mouth; 

Only here and there a clearing, 

With its farm house rude and new. 
And tree stumps, swart as Indians, 

Where the scanty harvest grew. ' ' 

But all this has changed through time and the agencies 
of man. Waldoboro of the past, is far different than the 
Waldoboro of to-day. That the reader may catch a glimpse 
of the *' German borough" through the mists of distance, and 
see it as we behold it, we give an additional extract from the 
Vision" before alluded to: 

"Still runs the stream to the river, 

And the river and ocean joined; 
And there are the bluffs and the blue sea line, 

And cold north hills behind. 

But the mighty forest is broken 

By many a steepled town, 
By many a white-walled farm house, 

And many a garner brown . 

Turning a score of mill wheels. 

The stream no more runs free; 
White sails on the winding river. 

White sails on the far-off sea. 

Below in the noisy village 

The flags are floating gay, 
And shine on a thousand faces 

The light of a holiday. 

Swiftly the rival plowman 

Turns the brown earth from their shares; 

Here are the farmer's treasures. 
There are the craftsman's wares. 



•a 



THE MILLER FAMILY 15 

Golden the good wife's butter 

Ruby her currant wine; 
Grand are the strutting turkeys, 

Fat are the beeves and swine." 

The early settlers are at rest. Each has filled his niche in 
the world and passed away from the scenes of earth. Life to 

to them was a stern and naked reality. The comforts which 
their posterity are now enjoying were denied them. For 
their courage, honesty and virtue, let us hold them in grate- 
ful remembrance. With the vanishing years, they are re- 
membered only by the genealogist and antiquarian. West- 
ward from the village, in sight of the winding Medomak, on a 
hill side facing the east, and 

"Beneath those rugged elms, that yew tree's shade. 
Where heaves the turf in many a mouldering heap, 

Each in his narrow cell forever laid. 

The rude forefathers of the hamlet sleep. ' ' 



I 



THE MILLER FAMILY 



PART TWO 



THE EMIGRANT ANCESTOR 



Therefore sprang there even of one ****** so many of 
the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by the sea- 
shore innumerable. — Hebrews, XI: 12. 

Among those who came with Waldo's German emigrants 
to Maine, in 1753, was Frank Miller, from whom the Miller, 
of Waldoboro claim a direct lineage. He was born in Ger- 
many in 1725. Although the exact spot of his birth is not 
positively known, it is now generally conceded that he was 
born in or near Bremen, one of the three free cities of the new 
German Empire, situated on the river Weser, about fifty 
miles from the sea, and about sixty miles south-west of Ham- 
burg. 

On his arrival at Waldoboro, he settled on a tract of land 
allotted him by Waldo's agent, situated about two miles west- 
ward of the present limits of the village. His family at this 
time consisted of himself, wife and son Henry, who was born 
the year preceding his father's emigration. Frank Miller at 
once began the laborious task of making a clearing and build- 
ing a log cabin for himself and family. The monarchs of the 
forest then stood in their primeval size and density, and to 
fell them to clear a sufficient area for cultivation with the 
rude implements such as he could command, required a 
degree of strength, perseverance and courage of which the 



18 THE MILLER FAMILY 

average farmer of to-day can have no adequate conception. 
In a few years, by dint of perseverance, he became possessed 
of one of the largest and most productive farms in that region. 
This farm, through all the varying vicissitudes of time, has 
never been held by any parties other than those of the emi- 
grant ancestor's lineal decendants. 

Authorities differ as to the trade or calling of the Millers 
in Germany. One authority states that they were farmers, 
while another credits them with being paper manufacturers. 
One reason given for Frank Miller's coming to America was 
that Waldo held out to him extra inducements for carrying on 
the manufacture of paper in this country. However as the 
case may be, when he arrived at Waldoboro, he, like his fellow 
emigrants, found that the promises of Waldo could be as 
easily broken as made, and no alternative remained for him 
but to imitate the example of Adam, and make the earth yield 
to him her increase. 

That he was acquainted with the art of paper making is 
evidenced from the fact that his brother, Thomas, who was to 
accompany him to America and engage in business with him 
here, disembarked when the vessel, in which he sailed in 
company with the German colony, touched at Cowes, on the 
Isle of Wight, and proceeded to London, where he began the 
manufacture of paper. He died unmarried, leaving property 
to the amount of 1500 pounds. A few years ago a representa- 
tive of the family opened a correspondence with C. D. 
Bernady, a claim agent of London, for the purpose of taking 
the necessary steps to obtain possession of the property. As 
the claimant could not furnish the documentary proof re- 
quired to show his descent from Frank Miller, the project 
was abandoned. 

This proof, which consisted of the family records brought 
hither from Germany, met a most peculiar fate near the 
beginning of the present century. These records, together 
with the passports, were buried with Frank Miller's wife, who 
died in Waldoboro, October 26th, 1820, at the age of 90 years. 



THE MILLER FAMILY 19 

This Strange and incomprehensible proceeding was in compli- 
ance with her request made a short time before her death. 
To carry out such a request in the light of the value of these 
records to the genealogist was a blunder worse than a crime, 
and can receive neither justification nor excuse. The coat-of- 
arms escaped burial, only to be burned in the great fire which 
visited Waldoboro, October 20th, 1846, and destroyed nearly 
the whole business portion of the village as well as several 
residences. 

The early settlers possessed a deeply religious nature. 
After providing themselves with homes, their thoughts and 
labors were immediately directed towards building a house for 
public worship. In 1760, they erected a meeting-house. 
The site of the first church in Waldoboro was on the eastern 
side of the road leading from Eugley's Corner to Dutch Neck. 
The locality has ever since been as Meeting-House Cove. 
The following description of this church is taken from Sam- 
uel L,. Miller's Historical Sketches of Waldoboro, published 
in 1873: 

"The house, which was 28 by 30 feet, was built of logs, 
hewn and dove-tailed at the corners; the walls were 11 feet 
inside; the floor was of logs hewn as smooth as their tools 
could make them; the roof was of frame- work, covered with 
long pieces split out of logs and laid on with birch-bark; the 
pews were also hewn logs; the pulpit, which was the orna- 
ment of the house, was painted ten years afterwards by Isaac 
Sargers, who was the first painter in Waldoboro; the windows 
were made of sheepskin. To the eastward and not far from 
the meeting-house was the burying-ground, where sleep 
undisturbed and forgotten, many of those old German pil- 
grims.' In 1763, after the close of the war, the house was 
dedicated and the first sermon preached by Rev. John Martin 
Schaeffer, who had previously arrived at Broad Bay from Bos- 
ton. The house was crowded; the choir, which was com- 
posed of male and female voices, was led by Frank Miller; 
the services were in the German language; the text was the 



20 THE MII^LER FAMILY 

5th and 6th verses of the 137th Psalm. Judge Groton says: 
'These pious people, many of whom, in their own country, 
had worshipped in the gorgeous churches at Frankfort ^ 
Cologne and Coblentz, wept when they remembered them, 
and rejoiced that were, after so many years, permitted once 
more to assemble in their rude-built meeting-house and wor- 
ship the same God, under the same form of religion (German 
lyUtheran) they did in Germany.' " 

Frank Miller died in Waldoboro, February 21, 1805, and 
was buried in the second German church-yard. His grave is 
marked by an ancient slab, erected by his son, Charles, and 
can be easily seen from the entrance of the church which was 
built within the sacred enclosure. Concerning his personal 
appearance and mental endowments, tradition is silent. The 
motive which induced him to emigrate to America, whether it 
was governed by public or private considerations, we do not 
know. Possibly it was governed by the desire to escape from 
the oppressive taxation and other burdens which naturally 
follow in the track of long continued or oppressive wars, but 
as he in common with others had been accustomed to this 
state of things, it was more probable that he was induced to 
come to America to embrace such a brilliant opportunity as 
Waldo held out, to improve his condition and increase his 
means of support. 



( 






THE MILLER FAMILY 



PART THREE 



SECOND GENERATION 



And the names he loved to hear 

Have been carved for many a year ■ 

On the tomb. 

—On-ver Wendell Holmes. 

HENRY MILI^ER, son of Frank and Anna Miller, was 
born in Germany, Sept. 22, 1752; married Margaret Kaler 
who was of German parentage. She was born Nov. 23, 
1756; died in the summer of 1842. He died in Waldoboro, 
April. 1827. 

Henry Miller emigrated with his parents to Waldoboro in 
1753. His early manhood was spent on his father's farm 
upon which he did many a hard day's work clearing the land 
for cultivation. Soon after coming of age, he married and 
removed on a tract of land, then an unbroken wilderness, 
about four miles north of the village, in the vicinity of what 
is now locally known as Feyler's corner. Here he repeated 
on a larger and more extended scale the work of his earlier 
years. He was a man of sterling integrity, and was highly 
respected throughout the community in which he lived. 

CHIIvDREN: 

HE;NRY CONRAD, b. in Wal. Jan. 5, 1778; died at sea in early man- 
hood. 

FRANK, b. Wal. Apr. 6, 1779; d. Bremen, Aug. 29, 1855; married Mar- 
garet Eugley, b. Wal. May 6, 1784; d. Bremen, Feb. 26, 1872. 



22 THE MILLER FAMILY 

His children — ^Jacob, Reuben, Fannie, William H., Isaac B., Gil- 
more, Alden F.. Edward A., Henderson E., Robert and Frank, 
Jr. 

JACOB, b. Wal. Dec. 23,1780; d. Wal. 1823, married Margaret Kuhn, 
b. Wal. Dec. 7, 1781. His children— Gor ham, John K., Otis, 
Betsey A., Angelica, Margaret M.. Catherine and Andrew. 

REBECCA, b. Wal. 1781; d. Fredonia, Ohio, Mar. 19, 1858; married 
Henry Bryant of Appleton, Dec. 25, 1 80 1. Her children— Charles, 
Francis, Goodrich S. and Amy. Besides the foregoing there were 
other children whose names could not be ascertained. 

ANNA G., b. Wal. Oct. 5, 1782; d. Wal. very suddenly about 1 800. 

ANDREW, b. Wal.; d. Calais, Oct. 15, 1837, unmarried. 

CATHERINE, b. Wal. 1785; d. Wal. unmarried, autumn of 1828. 

CHARLES, b. Wal. Feb. 24, 1786; d. Wal., 1837; married Margaret 

Creamer, Nov. 1818. His children — Horace, Benjamin, Daniel, 
Franklin and Fanny. 

PHILIP, b. Wal. Jan. 5, 1794; d. Lincolnville, Oct. 4,1864; married 
Saphira Cunningham of Bristol. She was b. Feb. 8, 1 801 ; d. 
Lincolnville, May 1 7, 1 870. His children — Emma, Lizzie, Martha, 
Samuel and Henrj'. 

GEORGE, b. Wal. Nov. 21, 1795; d. Wal. Apr. 12, 1871; married Mar- 
garet Cunningham, Sept. 3, 1822; b. Bristol, Apr. 1803. His chil- 
dren — ^Jane A., Susan C. Louisa S., Sarah D., Joseph F., Almira 
K., Samuel T., Augusta H. and George E. 

JOHN M., b. Wal. 1799; d. Calais, Oct. 15, 1876; married Tryphenia 
Lane, July, 1844. She was born Mar. 4, 1813; d. Feb. 10, 1888. 
His children — Margaret E. Charles A. and Adaliza. 

ELIZABETH MILLER, daughter of Frank and Anna 
Miller, was born in Waldoboro, in 1757; married Daniel 
Beckler of Waldoboro, June, 1777. She died in Oxford 
county in 1838. 

Daniel Beckler was born in Germany in 1748. He en- 
listed for a three years' service in the Continental army as a 
private March 18, 1777, joining Lieutenant Ulmer's Company 
at Waldoboro. On the muster rolls he is described as being 
five feet and six inches in height, of light complexion, sandy 



THE MILLER FAMILY 23 

hair, and by occupation a shoemaker. Shortly after 1790 he 
moved with his family to some town in Oxford County. In 
1802 he was living in Woodstock. He sold his betterments in 
1810 to Joshua Felt and moved to Greenwood, and subse- 
quently to Albany, Maine, where he died Sept. 4, 1833. 
William B. lyapham, historian of the town of Woodstock, 
speaks of him as John Beckler, but the muster rolls and 
entries in the family bible give his name as Daniel. Deacon 
Stephen Chase of Woodstock in his journal, under date of 
August 16, 1802, quoted by Lapham in his history, on page 
68 says: "Went to a lecture at Mr. Beckler's and heard Mr. 
Grant." This was doubtless the first meeting ever held in 
Woodstock, and whether it was a religious meeting or not the 
journal does not specify. It is quite probable, however, that 
it was a sermon that Mr. Grant delivered. Again on page 70, 
Mr. Lapham says: "John (?) Beckler though his native 
tongue was Dutch (?) was a good scholar, and on Sundays when 
they had no preacher he read a sermon or from some religious 
book, no doubt the edification of his hearers." 

CHIIvDREN: 

SUSAN, married a Hutchinson, and moved to Ohio in 1 81 6. 

KATHERINE, married a Coburn, and moved to Ohio in 1816. 

DANIEIv, 1st, b. Nov. 26, 1782; d. same year. 

Daniel 2d, b. Feb. 3, 1783; about the age of 21 years he left home, but 
his destination and fate were never known by his relatives. 

EIvIZABETH, 1st, b. Dec 21 , 1 784; d. young. 

ERANCIS, b. Oct, 1 , ; married Dolly Young of Albany, and set- 

tled in Greenwood. His children — Charles, Orren, Susan and 
Harriet. 

LUCY, b. Apr. 3, 1789; d. Sumner, April, 1869, unmarried. 

MARY, b. March 29, 1790. 

SARAH, b. Aug. 29, 1791 ; married a Oilman and lived in Fayette. 

NANCY, b. Woodstock, May 28, 1793; d. Waterford, 1859; married 
James Lebroke, a native of Paris; d. in Waterford, aged 83 years. 
Her children— Mary, Daniel B., Anne, Samuel G., James, Jane N, 
and Cynthia. 



2 4 THE MILLER FAMILY 

EIvIZABETH, 2d, b. April 19, 1795; d. young. 

PHIIvIP C, b. Wal., Nov. 22, 1796; d. Leeds, Sept. 25, 1870; married, 
first, Fannie Otis, Newcastle, 1 822. She was b. April 25, 
1803; d. I/ivermore, May 9, 1840. He married, second, Betsey 1/. 
Norris in 1841 by Elder Robert Hayes. She wasjb. L/ivermore, 
Dec 24, 1 808; d. there Jan. 27, 1 885. His children by first wife- 
Amos O., Charles Miller, Cynthia O-, Albion P., Daniel W., 
George W., Otis O- and Frank Miller; by second wife — Elizabeth 
N., William, John W., Sarah A. and Mary E- 

JOHN C, b. Wal., Nov. 22, 1796; d. Waterford, April 9, 1866; married 
Abigail Cole, Aug. 12, 1824. She was b. Greenwood, Sept. 25, 
1805, d. Albany, April 4, 1872. His children— Lucy E-, Daniel, 
Isaac p., Mary Miller. Margaret Miller, Abigail, George W., 
Esther, Dolly J., Sylvia A., John h- and Valeria. 

ELIZABETH, 3d., b. Feb. 3, 1800; d. May, 1821. 

HANNAH, b. Woodstock, June 5, 1802; d. June 5, 1858; married Har- 
vey Barrows of Paris, Feb. 13, 1825 by Elder James Hooper. He 
wash. Granby, Vt., May 3, 1803. Her children— Elizabeth Mil- 
ler, Hannah P., Lucy S-, James H., George H., Samantha A., 
Sabrina E- and Abby F. 

DOLLY, b. Wal., May 6, 1806; d- Albany, May, 1877; married John 
Hicks, b. Greenwood, Mar. 22, 1798; d. Norway, April 27, 1882. 
Her children — Ezra, Abigail, Sarah, Emeline, Harriet W., Eliza 
Ann, Mary, Betsey and Cynthia A. 

FRANK MILLER 2nd, son of Frank 1st. and Anna Mil- 
ler was born in Waldoboro in 1764; died in Rockland, May 
23, 1849. He married Jane Stahl who was born in Waldoboro 
in 1771, and died there June 6, 1837 

Frank Miller was, for many years, the leader or clerk, as 
that functionary was then called, of the choir of the German 
Lutheran Church at Waldoboro. It is of him the following 
anecdote is related in connection with Rev. John William 
Starman who succeeded the Rev. Frederick Augustus Ro- 
dolphus Benedictus Ritz in the pastorate of the church in 
1811. Unlike the custom of the modern choir, the minister 
would read two lines of the hymn, which the choir, having no 
hymn books, would take up and sing through, and so on until 
the entire hymn was finished. 





m 

X 

I 
> 

z 

r 
c 

H 

I 
m 

3) 

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z 

o 

I 
c 



I 



c 

r 
H 







THK MILLER FAMILY 25 

The anecdote referred to is as follows: The old fellow 
was about commencing his spiritual exercises one evening, 
when to his being a little near-sighted was added the dim 
light of the church. After clearing his throat and giving out 
the hymn, he prefaced it with the following apology: 

"The light ish bad, mine eyes ish dim, 
I scarce can see to read this hymn." 

The clerk supposing it was the first stanza of the hymn, 

struck up the tune of the common metre. The old fellow 

taken somewhat aback by this turn of affairs, corrected the 

mistake by saying: 

"I didn't mean to sing dish hymn, 
I only meant mine eyes ish dim." 

The clerk still thinking it was a combination of the 
couplet, finished it in the preceding strain. The old man at 
this waxing wroth, exclaimed at the top of his voice: 

"I dink the debil is in you all, 
Dat vash no hymn to sing at all,'' 

Which the clerk took up and sang as before, to the utter 
discomfiture of the already distracted parson. 

CHILDREN: 

JOHN, b. Wal. June 29,1789; d. Rockland, April 12. 1865; married, 
first, Margaret Kaler of Wal.; second, Lucy Carver of Lincoln- 
ville; third, Craig of Rockland. His children— by first 

wife: Eliza A., John E., William E-, Orchard, Warren F.; by 
second wife: Margaret E-, Lucy J., Isaac and Sylvina. 

MARGARET, b. Wal., May 12, 1792; d. Wal., Nov- 7, 1862; married 
David Rice, intentions of marriage filed Sept. 20, 1 810. He was 
born June 22, 1 788; d. Wal., Aug. 26; 1861 . Her children— Mary 
Jane, Sarah, James D-, Harriet M., Elizabeth Ann and Caroline A. 

ANN, b. Wal., Feb. 24, 1795; d. West Newton, Mass., Aug. 13, 1879; 

never married. 
JAMES, b. Wal., Nov. 1, 1798; d. Rockland, Sept. 20, 1863; married 

Margaret Sidelinger, Nov. 17, 1825. She was born in Wal., Oct. 

1 801; d. Rockland, Aug. 9, 1887. His children— Orris G., Parker, 

James B., Denny F., Henry, Simon, Henrietta A. and Sarah. 



26 THE MILLER FAMILY 

SARAH, b. Wal., June 7, 1 801 ; d. West Newton, Mass., July 1 7, 1 896; 
married Thomas A. Krving of Boston, Mass., 1852, by Rev. G. 
Bourne. He was born in Portland, June 22, 1 796; d. Boston, 
July 2, 1 870. 

EIvIZABETH A., b. Wal., June 5, 1804; d. Union, Mar. 4, 1850; mar- 
ried Daniel Sidelinger, July, 1831. He was born in Wal., Aug. 
22, 1 787; d. Rockland, Nov. 7, 1 878. Her children— Carolina A., 
Elocia A., Simon M., Harriet M.. Mary E., Henry F.and Hilton 
H. 

SIMON, b. Wal.. Mar. 26, 1807; died at sea, Aug. 28, 1825; never 
married. 

ORRIS, b. Wal., Jan. 12, 1810; d. at the age of 16 years. 

MARY JANE, b. Wal., Jan. 11. 1815; d. at the age of 1 2 years. 

GEORGE MILLER, son of Frank 1st. and Anna Mil- 
ler was born in Waldoboro in 1766; married first, Barbara 
Hoffses, November 10, 1791, by Isaac Ludwig, Justice of the 
Peace. He married for his second wife a Mrs. Nelson of 
Washington by whom he had no children. She died shortly 
after his death which occurred at North Waldoboro, August 
30, 1850. 

George Miller was a great reader and student of general 
literature, himself possessing considerable literary talent which 
he transmitted in an appreciable degree to many of his de- 
scendants. Socially he was vivacious, and full of pleasantry 
and anecdote. 

CHILDREN: 

MARY C. b. Wal., Sept. 10, 1792; d. Wal. Sept. 30, 1839; married 
Daniel Ripley, intentions of marriage filed Nov. 27, 1 81 9. He 
was born Wal., Sept. 8, 1792; d. Union, Jan. 16, 1 864. Her chil- 
dren — George M., Gorham, Gardner, Jane A., Margaret W., 
Martha and Marj'. 

HANNAH, b. Wal., Mar. 22, 1794; d. Jefferson, July 16, 1849; married 
Nathaniel Tobey, Mar. 5, 1 820. He was born Union, July 21 , 
1796; d. N. Wal., Mar. 22, 1879. Her children— Nathaniel, 
Almeda, Thomas West, Albert R., Eben S., James R., Rebecca 
M., John, Elijah M., Galen H., Mary Jane, Mary Jane 2d. and 
William J. 



THE MILLER FAMILY 27 

GKORGE H., b. Nobleboro, Oct. 15, 1795; d. Washington, May 1 , 
1865; married Barbara Jameson, Dec. 5, 1822. She was born Jan. 
18,1795; d. Washington, Mar. 17, 1850. His second wife was 
Mary Reed of Belfast, and his third wife, Eliza Emmons of Hal- 
lowell. His children by first wife — George A., John L., William 
A., Eliza J., Almond J. and Priscilla J. By third wife — Eliza who 
died at the age of 25 years. 

MARGARET, b. Wal.; d. Union, May 31 , 1830; married Ebenezer Dag- 
gett, 1819. He was b. Union, Aug. 2, 1797; d. Washington, Aug. 
10, 1887, and was buried in Union. Her children — Cyrus, Thurs- 
ton, Elzina, Barbara D., Mary M., Erastus, Adornoand one dying 
same day as the mother. 

GODFREY, b. Wal., Mar. 20, 1799; d. Northport, Sept. 9, 1853; mar- 
ried Julia Walker, Dec. 26, 1 830. She was born in Union, Mar. 3, 
1805; d. Benton, April 8, 1865. His children— Rev. Nathan W. 
Everson R., Helen A., John W., Sarah E., Rev. Moses D., 
Wellvellyn, Julietta and Flora E- 

JACOB, b. Wal., Jan. 1, 1801; d. Wal., Mar. 24, 1886; married Mehita- 
ble Flanders, Feb. 2, 1 826. She was b. Jefferson, May 3, 1801; d. 
Wal., July, 1862. His children— Almeda, Ellen F., Jacob W., 
Richard and Huldah M. 

ELIZABETH, b. Wal., Oct. 17, 1802; d. Wal., May 13, 1886; married 
John Achorn, May 13 , 1 824, by Rev. John W. Starman. He was 
b. Wal., Oct. 1,1799; d. Wal., July 20, 1881. Her children- 
Elizabeth, Nathaniel, Lucy, Lorinda, Otis, Stephen and Lenora. 

RUFUS, b. Wal.; d. Damariscotta; married Sabra Hodgkins of Jefferson, 
intentions of marriage filed Nov. 28, 1 833. She d. Jefferson, Mar., 
1883. His children— Daniel, Angeletta, Margaret, Amza and 
Abial. All died unmarried. 

SALOME, b. Wal.. 1805; d. Union, Mar. 27, 1854; married Ebenezer 
Daggett, June 9, 1 831 by Walt.-r Blake. Her children— Lysander, 
Charles M., Clementine C. Darius, Harriet D., Delphina, Lucius 
C. and Angelia. 

LUCY, b. Wal., Aug. 31 , 1 808; d. Union, July 24, 1 878; married Charles 
Miller at North Wal. Sept. 1 7, 1 833, by her uncle, Charles Miller. 
He was born in Union, Feb. 12,1810; died there May 1 3, 1877. 
Husband and wife were not related. Her children: George A., 
Julia D., Maria D., John A., Lorinda, Sarah A., Charles A., 
Mary E- and Joseph M. 



28 THE MILLER FAMILY 



EIvIJAH, b. Wal., Oct. 25, 1810; d. Wal.;Sept. 2, 1850; married Betsey 
Miller, May 25, 1 835, at Wal., by Charles Miller. She was b. 
Wal., Nov. 9, 1814. His children — Margaret, Moses M., Flavilla 
B. and Adrian L. 

WIIvIylAM B., b. Wal., Oct. 2, 1810; d. Wal., June 14, 1840; married 
Dorothy Flanders. His children — Olivia S- and Alonzo Evander. 

MOSES, b. Wal., Sept., 1813; d. Wal., April 28, 1839. He never 
married. 

CATHERINE MILLER, daughter of Frank and Anna 
Miller, married Andrew Genthner of Waldoboro. 

CHII^DREN: 

MARY, b. 1790; d. Sept. 7, 1 837; married Charles h. Kaler, 1820, He 
was b. Wal., 1794; d. there Jan. 21,1842. Her children— Rob- 
inson, Harriet, Louisa J., Benjamin, Mary, Charles, Susan F. and Isaac. 

ANDREW, married Elizabeth McClintock. His children— Catherine, 
Jacob, Eleanor, Frank, Jane, Eliza, Mary Ann, Andrew and Susan. 

ISAAC, married Jane Creamer. His children — Isaac, Margaret, John 
and eight others whose names could not be ascertained. 

JOHN, married Margaret Waltz. His children — George, Margaret, 
Mary and three others whose names could not be ascertained. 

SARAH, d. in 1848; married John Hoffses who was b. July 8, 1792; 
d. July 12, 1848. Her children— Mary C-, George L-, James A., 
Ivouisa, Sarah J., Angeline E., John B., Margaret, Nelson H. and 
William H. 

ELIZABETH, b. about 1 798; d. Apr. 9, 1855; married Christopher Ben- 
ner. Her children — Arroline E., James H., Christopher G., 
Eliza Ann and Elizabeth. 

CATHERINE, d. Mar. 2, 1867, aged 72 years and 3 months; married 
Charles Benner by Wm. J. Farley. He d. Oct. 8, 1865, aged 76 
years, 7 months and 27 days. Her children — Otis A., Charles, 
Gorham, Solomon, Sarah J., Betsey Ann, Newell, Mary, Catherine 
and Orren. 

JANE, married John Kaler. Her children — ^John Boyd, Mary, Andrew, 
Emerson and Susan. 

CHARLES, d. young. 

JACOB, married Hannah Parker. His children — Robert and William 
Henry. 



THE MILLER FAMILY 29 

MARY MIIvIyER. Of the third daughter born to Frank 
and Anna Miller but little is known with certainty. From 
my father whose information and knowledge concerning the 
early Millers was both accurate and considerable, I learned 
that this daughter was known to the family as "Aunt 
Sprague,'' and that she married Nathan Sprague of Waldo- 
boro. Painstaking investigation on my part has furnished 
me no trustworthy information concerning her or her de- 
scendants. From a sketch of Nathaniel Grotton who was 
born in Waldoboro in, 1791, found in a history of Bowdoin 
College, it appears that Nathan Sprague came to Waldoboro 
from Marshfield, Mass., in 1774, and that his daughter Mary 
married William Grotton, father of Nathaniel. It is possible 
that the mother of William Grotton was a daughter of Mary 
Miller Sprague, the subject of this sketch. Assuming this to 
be true, a brief sketch of Nathaniel would be timely and in- 
teresting on this occasion. 

At the age of fourteen or fifteen, Nathaniel Grotton was 
possessed with a passion for a sailor's life; but a wreck at sea 
made him wiser, and having earnestly prepared at Hebron 
Academy he entered Bowdoin College. After graduation, 
having studied law, he opened an office in Bath. For two 
years he was in the Senate of Maine, and for fourteen years 
he was probate judge for Lincoln County. In the latter years 
of his life he spent much time in collecting facts of local his- 
tory and biography which he made public through the news- 
papers and in the collections of the Maine Historical Society. 
By his wife Elizabeth W. Kittredge, he had a son, who died 
young, and a daughter. This daughter married F. O. J. 
Smith. Judge Grotton died in 1858. Mr. Smith was born in 
Brentwood, N. H., November 23, 1806; received a limited 
education; studied law and began practice at Portland; mem- 
ber of the Maine House of Representatives in 1831, and of the 
State Senate in 1833, and its president that year; elected a 
Representative from Maine to the Twenty-third Congress as a 



30 THE MILLER FAMILY 

Democrat; re-elected to the Twenty-fourth and Twenty-fifth 
Congresses; defeated for re-election to the Twenty-sixth Con- 
gress; died at Deering, Maine, October 14, 1876. 

CHARLES MILI^ER, son of Frank and Anna Miller, 
was born in Waldoboro, November 5, 1772; died there No- 
vember 26, 1846; married, first, Elizabeth Kinsell, born in 
Waldoboro, 1766; died there February 18, 1817; married, 
second, Fanny Boyd of Wiscasset, who was born July 28, 
1780, and died in Waldoboro, October 13, 1846. 

Charles Miller was for many years one of the leading 
business men in his community, and was prominent and in- 
fluential in public affairs. He devoted himself almost exclu- 
sively to his business interests, and in the affairs of his town 
and state; and in a quiet way rendered effective service to the 
party with which he was politically identified. In 1816, Mr. 
Miller represented Waldoboro in the General Court of Massa- 
chusetts, and was a member of the lower branch of the Maine 
legislature in 1826, 1827, 1828, 1829, 1830, 1833 and 1843, a 
legislative career exceeded by few, and marked by good judg- 
ment and honorable service. 

Mr. Miller passed his early life on the home farm in Wal- 
doboro, and his education was that which he was able to ob- 
tain by attendance during the winter months at the district 
school. His deficiencies in early education were neutralized 
by a shrewd observation, and a careful and continued reading 
of general and secular literature, aided by a natural aptitude 
for acquiring information. 

After he moved to the village he engaged in trade, deal- 
ing in a line of goods which embraced nearly every article 
required for family and general use. At first his business 
ventures were conducted on a small scale, but as they contin- 
ued to increase he entered upon a notable career of ship-build- 
ing which covered many years of active and intelligent ser- 
vice. During his fifty years of active business life, he built in 
his ship-yards on the Medomak river a fleet of 24 vessels, the 



THE MII^IvER PAMIIvY 31 

lumber for which was procured from the neighboring forests. 
He retained the sole ownership of nearly every vessel he con- 
structed. With his vessel holdings and other forms of prop- 
erty, he left at his death a considerable fortune. 

CHILDREN: 

FANNY, b. Wal., 1796; d. Wal., Aug. 22, 1797. 

CHARLES K., b, Wal., Mar. 19. 1803; d. Bangor, Apr. 4, 1876; mar- 
ried Jane Otis Boyd of Wiscasset. She was b. Feb. 7, 1800; d, 
Bangor, Jan. 1, 1876. His children— Charles W. B., Elizabeth, 
Mary T. and Bertha M. 

IvUCY, b. Wal., Oct. 16, 1797; d. Wal., Apr. 3, 1871; married George 
Kaler at Wal., 1817, by Rev. John Wm. Starman. He was b. 
Wal., Oct. 28, 1789; d. Wal., Sept. 15, 1861. Her children- 
Susan A., Elizabeth, Miller and Mary F. 

ROBERT, b. Wal., Jan. 1, 1804; d. Wal., Feb. 18, 1873; married Elsie Bur- 
kett at Wal., Mar. 25, 1830 by Hector M. Brown. She was b. 
Wal., Mar. 21, 1809; d. Wal., Aug. 1, 1877. His children— Ben- 
jamin T., Clara I., Charles W., Charlotte E. and Charles R, 

BENJAMIN, b. Wal., 1799; d. on board brig Charles Miller, Feb. 2, 
1819. 

BOYD. 

SUSAN, b. Wal.; d. New York City, 1892; married George N. Samp- 
son of Wal. who died at sea on a voyage from Havre to New York 
on board the vessel of which he was in command. His remains 
were brought to New York and interred in a cemetery in that city, 
Mrs. Sampson was the sole issue of her father's second marriage. 

The length of this address admonishes me to close. I 
have treated of the coming of the Germans to Waldoboro, and 
described the early settlement of that town, followed by 
sketches of our emigrant ancestor and his descendants to the 
third generation. To go beyond this period would be an in- 
trusion on the domains of a genealogical history. I am not 
vain enough to believe that what I have written is of much 
interest to the general public. If I have interested and in- 
formed this gathering, I shall be content. Our family is sim- 
ilar to hundreds of others. No remarkable characters have 



32 THE MILLE^R FAMILY 

Sprung from our ranks. The attention of the world has never 
been arrested by the individual efforts of any of our numbers. 
No noted warrior has led a valiant soldiery to victory. No 
poet has enriched the literature of the ages with "thoughts 
that breathe and words that burn." No statesman has 
changed the fate of parties or nations on the chess board of 
politics or statecraft. No orator has moved multitudes by the 
elegance of his diction, or the magnetic influence of a strong 
personality. The pulpit and the bar. the counting room and 
the countless avenues of traffic and commerce, it is true, have 
felt their presence and know their activities, but the theatre 
of their action has been at the foot-hills and on the table-lands 
of effort and endeavor, and not on heights and mountain tops. 
Our kindred belong to that great community of the world's 
workers which Abraham Lincoln so aptly and truthfully de- 
nominated as "the common people." They have been honest, 
hard-working. God-fearing men, satisfied to perform their 
several missions as they are and have been, and with an earn- 
est desire to do their duty. The world may not have been 
greatly benefitted by our having lived in it, neither has it 
suffered any detriment or hurt that for one brief hour we 
appeared on the stage of action, and with but a single bow 
witnessed the falling of the curtain. 



SUPPLEMENTAL 



PART FOUR 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES 



History is but the aggregate of individual biographies. 

— Russell H. Con-will. 



GEORGE W. SINGER (son of Sarah J. Hoffses, daugh- 
ter of Sarah Genthner, daughter of Catherine Miller, daughter 
of Frank) was born in Waldoboro, Sept. 18, 1861; married, 
first, Annie J. Hiscock at Damariscotta, Oct. 2, 1892, by Rev. 
D. B. Dow. She was born in Damariscotta, April 26, 1867; 
and died there Dec. 20, 1897. Married, second, Emma H. 
Metcalf at Damariscotta, Oct. 20, 1903, by Rev. E. C. Whitte- 
more. She was born in Newcastle, March 25, 1875. 

George W. Singer received his preliminary education in 
the High school and common schools of his native town, and 
was graduated from Colby college in 1892. After graduating 
he taught one year as submaster of Waterville High school, 
and was for five years principal of Hallowell High school. 
In May, 1898, he purchased the Damariscotta Herald, a 
weekly newspaper published in Damariscotta, and which has 
been a fairly successful business venture. He is a man of 
independent views, and these are vigorously expressed, as 
occasion demands, in the columns of his paper. Mr. Singer 
is a Republican in politics, but is not a servile party follower. 
In religious matters, he is identified with the Baptist denomi- 



34 SUPPLEMENTAL 



nation. He is an active and prominent Mason having served 
as Master of Alna L,odge, F. & A. M., and is a member of 
Ezra B. French Chapter, R. A. C, of Crystal Chapter, 
O. E. S., and of Lincoln Temple, P. S. He is a member of 
the Maine Chapter of the Phi Delta Theta fraternity; of 
Arambec Lodge. I. O. O. F.; Ocean Grange, P. of H.; and 
of Massasoit Tribe, I. O. R. M.; and is Past Chancellor, Lin- 
coln Lodge, K. of P.; Past Dictator, Union Lodge, K. of H.; 
and Past Chief Ranger, Annabessacook Lodge, I. O. F, 

CHILD (by first wife): 

KATHARINE H., b. Hallowell, April 25, 1894. 

ELBRIDGE HARLOW BECKLER (son of Amos O., 
son of Philip C, son of Elizabeth Miller, daughter of Frank) 
was born in Boston, October 16, 1854; died from cerebral 
hemorrhage, August 26, 1908, at the West Portal Camp of 
the St. Paul Pass tunnel in Shoshone county, Idaho; married 
Almera Page Rogers at Richmond, Maine, Feb. 18, 1880, by 
Rev. E. G. Page. She was born in Georgetown, May 3, 1858. 

Elbridge Harlow Beckler removed with his parents from 
Boston to Livermore Centre, Maine, a few years following his 
birth, where he continued to reside until his professional 
duties called him to the West. While attending the Maine 
Wesleyan Seminary at Kent's Hill in 1873, he was attracted 
to the use of surveying instruments by participating in some 
land surveys undertaken by Prof. Chase, his instructor in 
mathematics. His liking for mathematics had led him be- 
yond his regular classes at Kent's Hill, so that he was fitted 
to enter the junior class at Maine State College. Orono, and 
to begin at once the study of engineering, resulting in his 
graduation in 1876 with good standing for the four year's 
course, receiving the degree of Civil Engineer. 

Early in the spring of 1877, after several months spent in 
teaching, he left the homestead at Livermore Centre, and 
sought a position in railroad construction in Minnesota. 
Owing to the slow recovery of business from the panic of 



SUPPIvEMKNTAI, 35 



1873, the next two years were passed in a variety of occupa- 
pations — teaching-, farming, surveying and map-making. 

His railroad work began in 1879 with employment on the 
St. Paul, Minneapolis and Manitoba railway as transitman and 
assistant engineer, near Fergus Falls, Minn. From 1880 to 
1885 inclusive, he was employed by the Northern Pacific Rail- 
road Company, starting out from St. Paul in April to begin 
surveys where Glendive, Montana, is now located on the Yel- 
lowstone river. The end of the track was 600 miles west of 
Mandan, N. D., and with nine wagons and 32 men, the Cus- 
ter trail of 1876 was followed much of the way to the Yellow- 
stone, a distance of about 200 miles. It was then a wild 
country and the trip necessitated some hardships accompanied 
with possible dangers. Mr. Beckler was fortunately placed 
under the direction of a very capable division engineer, J. F. 
Dodge, and his limited knowledge of railroad location was 
developed to a degree far ahead of the training obtained at col- 
lege, and at the close of the Northern Pacific surveys about 
400 miles of the railroad had been laid out by his surveying 
parties. 

Promotions came quite rapidly, and before the completion 
of the Northern Pacific road in 1883, he was in charge of 
some 40 miles of the heaviest construction work including a 
tunnel at Bozeman Pass, 3610 feet in length. During this 
period the construction of an important bridge about 6000 
feet in length, making an entrance into Duluth, Minn., by 
the Northern Pacific and other roads from Wisconsin and 
other roads, was assigned to his care. In 1884, he spent six 
months on the Canadian Pacific railway location and construc- 
tion along the Kicking Horse river, just west of the summit 
of the Rocky mountains. 

Beginning with 1886, Mr. Beckler undertook making the 
location for the Montana Central railway, which was the be- 
ginning of the Great Northern extension to the Pacific coast. 
In 1889 the work of building to the coast was entirely in his 



Dl 



36 SUPPLEMENTAL 



charge as chief engineer, the work including surveys, con- 
struction and operation. There were about 1000 miles of road 
to build through all the mountains from Central Montana to 
Puget Sound. The work embraced much heavy rock-cutting, 
high trestle bridges, long steel spans, and many tunnels. 
The character of the work is disclosed in the fact that to-day 
the road is mentioned as the model for easy grades and curves, 
and scientific railway construction; its adjustment to the 
country traversed having never been equalled. What he ac- 
complished in this respect is generally regarded as the most 
notable achievement of his life. This work closed with the year 
1892, and the following year he moved to Chicago, after having 
bad 14 years of constant, active engineering work. 

After a brief period of rest, Mr. Beckler engaged with 
Winston Bros., railroad contractors, and in 1902, a company 
called Winston Bros. Company, was incorporated at Minne- 
apolis, of which he became a member. The work of the com- 
pany was the building of railways by contract in all parts of 
the country. At the time of Mr. Beckler's death, the com- 
pany had operated in 23 states, and was engaged in building 
tha Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul railway, the fourth of the 
so-called trans-continental railroads with which he had been 
connected. Mr. Beckler was a member of the Western So- 
ciety of Engineers of Chicago, and President of Montana So- 
ciety of Civil Engineers of Helena. 

CHILDREN: 

MERA BELLE, b. Empire, Minn., June 26, 1883. 

GRACE HINKLEY, b. St. PauL Minn., May 9, 1885. 

MAURICE ELBRIDGE, b. Helena, Mont., June 22, 1888. 

OLIVIA J. DAGGETT (daughter of Cyrus, son of Mar- 
garet Miller, daughter of George, son of Frank) was born in 
Camden, now Rockport, Nov. 16, 1852; married Andrew J. 
Lufkin at Sherman by Levi C. Caldwell, June 2, 1872. He 
was born in Bangor, Nov. 1, 1833; died in Sherman, April 
10, 1889. 



SUPPI.EMENTAL 37 



Andrew J. Lufkin served in the 5th Maine Infantry 
until after the first battle of Bull Run, when he was dis- 
charged to take the position of sergeant of the 1st Maine 
Light Infantry. From this battery he was afterwards dis- 
charged to accept a commission as captain in the 4th U. S. 
Colored Infantry. He remained with this regiment until after 
the surrender of Port Hudson when he resigned on account of 
ill health, and was discharged. February 14, 1864, Mr. L,uf- 
kin was mustered into the 1st District of Columbia Cavalry as 
a private, and was soon afterward advanced to the position of 
sergeant. At the battle of Sycamore Church, Sept. 16, 1864, 
he had a horse shot from under him, at which time he re- 
ceived severe injuries. He then entered Cavalry Corps Hos- 
pital at City Point where he remained until after L,ee's sur- 
render, when he was detailed in command of the captured 
cannon on the route to Maine by the regiment. 

CHII/DREN: 

C. LfESTER, b. Sherman, Jan. 6, 1876. 

ELIZA, b. Sherman, May 13, 1878. 

SAMUEL L. MILLER (son of Alden F., son of Frank, 
son of Henry) was born in Waldoboro, March 25, 1844; mar- 
ried Martha M. Storer, December 26, 1866 by Rev. H. B. 
Marshall. She was born in Waldoboro, Feb. 28, 1844. 

Samuel L. Miller supplemented his early education which 
was received in the Waldoboro common schools by a course at 
Warren Academy. In August, 1862, he enlisted in the 
Twentieth Maine Regiment, and served in the civil war until 
its close, participating in the campaigns of Antietam, Freder- 
icksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, The Wilderness, Pet- 
ersburg and Appomattox, He was successively promoted to 
the ranks of Quartermaster-Sergeant and Lieutenant. After 
being mustered out of service at the close of the war, Mr. 
Miller engaged in the dry goods business in Waldoboro. In 
1869, he was appointed postmaster, and served most accept- 
ably in the position for 21 consecutive years. In 1873, prompt- 



38 SUPPLE MENTAI, 

ed by his literary tastes, he established the lyincoln County 
News. A Master of King Solomon's I^odge, No. 61, of Wal- 
doboro, he has been Grand Junior Warden of the Grand 
Lodge of Maine, and Grand Patron of the Order of the East- 
ern Star. He is a member of the Military Order of the Loyal 
Legion of the United States, and in the G. A. R., he was De- 
partment Commander of Maine Grand Army in 1891, and the 
Assistant Adjutant General in 1896. Mr. Miller haS also been 
President of the Maine Press Association. Possessing a 
praiseworthy degree of public spirit, he has always been per- 
sonally identified with enterprises designed for the good of 
his town. In politics he is republican; in religion he is not 
sectarian. Since his retirement from newspaper work, he has 
been engaged in fire and life insurance business. 

CHILD: 

AI^BERT M., b. Wal., June 18, 1871. 

BERTHA M. MILLER (daughter of Charles K., son of 
Charles, son of Frank) was born in Waldoboro, Oct. 28, 
1828; died in Bangor, May 22, 1853; married Augustus D. 
Manson, Nov. 14, 1849. No children were born of this mar- 
riage. 

Augustus D. Manson was born in Newton, Mass., April 
28, 1820. He attended the public schools there until he was 
15. During his vacations, which were frequent and long in 
those early days, he worked in cotton and nail factories. At 
the age of 15, he entered a country store in Lexington, but 
soon went to another store in Weston with his employer, who 
failed in 1837. Later he went to Sudbury, and from there to 
Concord, N. H. 

Early in 1846, Mr. Manson removed to Bangor, and at 
once engaged in the dry goods business on Main street. Two 
years later he went into partnership with the Hon. Hiram 
B. Williams, which partnership continued 17 years. The 
firm invested in shipping and real estate in addition to the dry 
good business, and for many years was remembered in many 



SUPPLEMENTAI, 39 



parts of the world as one of the old-time New England ship- 
ping concerns. In 1865 the partnership was dissolved, and 
from that time until his death, Mr. Manson speculated on his 
own account in shipping, insurance and timber lands, being 
considered at one time one of the lumber kings of Maine. He 
successfully thought out and carried through several large and 
important real estate deals. 

Mr. Manson 's public life began when he was elected a 
member of the Bangor common council, in which he served 
one year. In 1862 and 1863, he represented Bangor in the 
lower branch of the state legislature. He was a member of 
the state senate in 1864, 1865 and 1866. In 1868 he was 
mayor of Bangor, but after serving the city one year, he re- 
tired from public life. He was a director of the European 
and American Railroad, and of the Union Insurance Company. 

While Mr. Manson attended the country school in New- 
ton, he formed many of his anti-slavery ideas, for his master 
was an ardent abolitionist, and even conducted abolition meet- 
ings, which were very stormy and exciting in those early days 
when the anti-slavery seeds began to take root. About two 
years before the civil war he joined an association in the city 
which had for its object the introduction to Bangor of promi- 
nent speakers, and among those whom the association brought 
there were William L,loyd Garrison, Wendell Phillips, Thomas 
Wentworth Higginson, Theodore Parker, Frederick Douglass 
and Cassius M. Clay. Mr. Manson was a very earnest student 
and took great interest in all economic questions and matters 
of legislation. 

He died at Young's hotel, Boston, where for several years 
he had made his winter home, Jan. 3, 1897. His remains 
were interred beside those of his wife in Mount Hope Ceme- 
tery, Bangor. Messrs. Wilson & Woodard of his home city 
were the executors of his will, and it was currently reported 
at the time of his death, that he left an estate upwards of the 
value of $1,000,000. Mr. Manson never remarried. 



40 SUPPLEMENTAL 



GEORGE AUGUSTINE MILLER (son of George H., 
son of George, son of Frank) was born in Washington, Sept. 
16, 1829; married Mary Talbot Eaton of Damariscotta, Nov. 
19, 1856. She was born in Strong, Sept. 21, 1833. He died 
in Bath, Feb. 19, 1891. 

George A. Miller resided in Washington until his removal 
to Bath in 1876. He was for many years engaged in farming 
and lumbering, but after his removal to Bath, he followed the 
occupation of a ship carpenter. 

The accompanying reproduction of a photograph of Mr. 
Miller is published with this pamphlet at the request and ex- 
pense of his children, it being a means of placing it in the 
hands of all the members of the family, and in doing so they 
wish to call the attention of the family to his qualities and 
characteristics. Mr. Miller was a true Christian. Early in 
life he became connected with the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, and was prominently identified with church work, 
having held all the oflfices in the church possible for a lay- 
man to hold — trustee, class leader, Sunday school superin- 
tendent, etc. His widow and children wish to express an ap- 
preciation of his true Christian character, of his loving and 
devoted care as a husband and father, and submit his life as 
an example of a conscientious and prayerfully guided one. 

CHILDREN: 

EMMA B., b. Washington, Sept. 20, 1857. 

FREDERICK, b. Washington, Sept. 26, 1859; died there Sept. 12, 1866 

EDWARD E., b. Washington, Oct. 5, 1860. 

IvOWELL, b. Washington, July 22, 1867; died there Sept. 29, 1869. 

GEORGE H., b. Washington, Oct. 23, 1870. His children — Rachel 
Adaline, b. Holyoke, Mass.. July 6, 1894; Catherine Barbara, b. 
Holyoke, July 29, 1896. 

JAMES H. BARROWS (son of Hannah Beckler, dau. of 
Elizabeth Miller, dau. of Frank) was bom in Albany, Maine, 
Dec. 21, 1831; married, first, Mary P. Fuller at Sumner, May 




GEORGE A. MILLER 



SUPPI^EMENTAI, 41 



14, 1854, by Benjamin G. Willey. She was born in Wood- 
stock, March 22, 1835; died in Augusta, Dec. 22, 1891. Mar- 
ried, second, Mary A. Young at West Paris, Oct. 1, 1894, by 
Rev. C. A. Hayden. She was born in Paris, March 25, 1856. 
Mr. Barrows died at the Eye and Ear Infirmary, Portland, 
April 20, 1909. 

James H. Barrows began the manufacture of chairs in 
early life, and for some 26 years he was engaged in this busi- 
ness at West Paris. In 1886, he removed to Bethel and es- 
tablished the Bethel Chair Company with which he was con- 
nected until January, 1908, when he retired from active busi- 
ness. He was for many years a trial justice at Paris, and held 
that office at the time of his death. He was a veteran of the 
civil war having been a member of Company F, 23d Maine 
Volunteers. He was an active and interested member of 
Brown Post, G. A. R., of Bethel, and of Bethel I^odge, F. & 
A.M. 

Mr. Barrows was an honest, patriotic and helpful citizen; 
kind, sympathetic and generous; of high ideals and noble 
impulses; interested and active in all progressive movements; 
a good man and one highly esteemed and respected. In poli- 
tics he was a Republican, and always a staunch upholder of 
party principles. He was a member of the Bethel Universa- 
list church, and for many years and at the time of his death, 
the chairman of the board of the trustees of the parish. He 
was long the superintendent of the Sunday school, and was an 
honorary member of the Young People's Christian Union. 
For several years he was president of the Oxford Association 
of Universalists, retiring from that position in October, 1908. 
His faith to him was a living reality, and in it he found 
strength and comfort. 

CHIIvD: 

EIvLA M., b. Paris, Feb. 21, 1859; married Francis H. Young, Sept. 23, 
1885, by Rev. Alexander Hill. He was born Paris, March 18, 
1858. Her children— Harold J., b. Bethel, May 24, 1887; Clyde 
F., b. Bethel, Nov. 17, 1889. 



I 



42 SUPPLEMENTAL 



MOSES D. MILIvER (son of Godfrey, son of George, 
son of Frank) was born in Washington, March 7, 1844; died 
in Apopka, Florida, Feb. 25, 1883; married Eliza A. Garland, 
Aug. 11, 1869, at Benton by Rev. N. W. Miller. She was 
born in Winslow, July 22, 1845; died in Portland, May 20, 
1882. 

Moses D. Miller was born of Methodist stock, and that the 
home influence was a strongly religious one was shown by the 
lives there developed. Of the five sons of Godfrey Miller, two 
entered the Methodist ministry, and the whole family, we are 
told, were identified with the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
Before entering the ministry, Mr. Miller taught several terms 
of school. His first appointment in the East Maine Confer- 
ence was at Cross Hill in 1872. His subsequent appoint- 
ments were as follows: Unity, 1873; East Pittston, 1874-5; 
North Searsport, 1876; North Penobscot, 1877-8; Round 
Pond, 1879; Northport, 1880; Danforth, 1881-2. 

He was of a family of frail physique, and inherited in full 
measure the frailty of his family. All his ministerial life 
was fettered with this disability, and many hours of keen suf- 
fering followed his attempts at public speaking. His weak- 
ness increasing, and the sea air seeming too harsh for him, he 
was appointed to the newer regions of the Aroostook at Dan- 
forth. He was warmly received, and entered at once with 
great zeal upon his work. For a while the change seemed to 
produce favorable results. His return the second year was 
unanimously requested, and he was re-appointed, but he re- 
turned alone. His wife who had been a sharer with him in 
all his ministerial labors, went from the seat of the annual 
conference to the Maine General Hospital in the spring of 
1882 for the purpose of submitting to a delicate surgical 
operation. Sinking rapidly and unexpectedly under the 
operation, Mr. Miller was hastily summoned but when he 
reached her, she had passed into a condition of unconscious- 
ness from which she never emerged. A few days after his 



SUPPLEMENTAL 43 



wife's death he suffered a severe hemorrhage which so pros- 
trated him, that he never again entered his pulpit. His peo- 
ple gave him loving and unremitting attention, and released 
him from all pastoral cares and duties, but his work was done. 
As the winter advanced, he resolved to try a milder climate 
and went to Florida, where the end finally came. 

Mr. Miller possessed a sensitive nature, and he was as con- 
scientious as he was sensitive. Always inclined to undervalue 
himself, he could not push his personal interests. He did not 
move to the front as rapidly as some, because he always 
waited to be invited. He was a man of intelligence and abil- 
ity. Some of his pulpit efforts were superior, and he was 
always highly esteemed by those whom he served. He was a 
true man and never faltered in meeting his duty. The minis- 
try was his life work, and he did not leave it until death 
mustered him out. 

CHILDREN: 

EFFIE A., b. Benton, June 12, 1871; married Fred Tapper of Starks, 
June 1, 1887. 

HERBERT C, b. Unity, June 18, 1873. 

EGLANTINE, b. East Pittston, Aug. 8, 1874. 

EVA A., b. East Pittston, Feb. 2, 1876. 

FLORA E., b. Bremen, May 18, 1880. 

FANNY MERROW (daughter of Louisa S. Miller, 
daughter of George, son of Henry, son of Frank) was born in 
Boston, April 7, 1850; married June 11, 1872 to Frederick H. 
Harford of Cape Elizabeth, by Rev. A. K. P. Small. Mr. 
Harford was born December 30, 1850. 

Frederick H. Harford was educated in the public schools, 
subsequently taking an academic course, fitting for college 
with the late Prof. James H. Hanson of Waterville. 

Early in life Mr. Harford entered upon the more active 
duties of his career, and for four years served Cumberland 
county satisfactorily as one of its deputy sheriffs. Following 



44 SUPPI,EMENTAL 



this he read law in the offices of Hon. Clarence Hale, now a 
United States District Judge, being admitted to the bar in 
1881. He with others established the Cape Elizabeth Senti- 
nel, and for several years assisted in editing that paper. Dis- 
posing of his interest to his brother, he returned to the office 
of Mr. Hale and the late A. A. Strout, remaining with them 
for several years, when he removed to his present quarters at 
31 1-2 Exchange street, Portland, where he has been for the 
past 20 years. In October, 1899, he was appointed by Gov. 
Powers, Judge of the Municipal Court of South Portland. 
He resigned this office in the fall of 1902, having in the mean- 
time taken up his residence in Portland, It can be truly said, 
that one could hardly write the history of South Portland and 
Cape Elizabeth without placing him in the front rank of those 
things that have made the town thrifty and prosperous. 

Most people who are familiar with the history of Cape 
Elizabeth will doubtless remember that Mr. Harford's connec- 
tion as counsel in one of the great legal battles that has ever 
taken place in Cumberland county, the question of securing a 
charter from the legislature for the operation of a double-end 
ferry boat between Portland and South Portland; also the lay- 
ing out in connection therewith of a highway down Portland 
pier with a suitable landing place at the end of the dock. For 
four or five years the matter was pending before the legisla- 
ture and state courts, and finally resulted in the triumph of 
the people on the Cape. From beginning to end the advance- 
ment was fought by the shrewdest and brightest lawyers of 
the state, every legal quibble being raised to prevent the 
operation of the boat that is now conceded to be a public 
necessity. 

Mr. Harford was the first and most enthusiastic mover in 
the introduction of Sebago water into Cape Elizabeth, and 
but for his zeal the people of South Portland would perhaps 
now be drinking well water, and with no means whatever of 
fighting fire. He has for many years been the local counsel 




FREDERICK H. HARFORD 



SUPPLEMENTAL 45 



for the great beef house of Swift & Co., and for several years 
served the Hammond Beef and Provision Co., as well as many 
other large and flourishing business houses in and about the 
city of Portland. He was a director of the People's Ferry 
Company, Island Ferry Company, and several other success- 
ful business adventures, including L,oan and Building Asso- 
ciations, was one of the incorporators of the Casco and Port- 
land Association, and also founder of the South Portland 
Loan and Building Association. In a word he has been at the 
head of about every movement that looked to the upbuilding 
of his native city, and the tributes he has received from the 
public are fitting ones for a life that has been largely devoted 
to its good. 

CHIIvDREN: 

CHARLES M., b. Cape Elizabeth, July 27, 1875. 

GRACE E., b. Cape Elizabeth, May 9, 1878; d. June 21, 1894. 

FANNIE LOUISE, b. South Portland, Jan. 9, 1888. 

I have elsewhere indulged in a Foreword. It would 
seem appropriate, therefore, to add an Endword to this ad- 
dress and to these sketches. Distrusting my own powers to 
suitably write Finis thereto, I take refuge in borrowing the 
closing sentences of the Hall- White Family Annals by the 
Honorable Oliver G. Hall of Augusta, Maine, Judge of the 
Kennebec Superior Court: "it has been said that good ance- 
stry 'renders a good man more illustrious, but an ill one 
more contemptible.' There is much point in the saying of 
an old writer: 'The man who has nothing to boast of but his 
ancestry is like a potato plant --the only good belonging to 
him is under the ground.' I trust that this may never be 
true of any of us." 



FAMILY NAMES 



The Miller Genealogy will include the following and 
many other families whose names will appear in their proper 
places in the volume when published: 



Abbott 


Campbell 


Flanders 


Hoffses 


Achorn 


Canney 


Flint 


Hoffman 


Adams 


Carter 


Follett 


Holthaus 


Akehurst 


Carver 


Foster 


Hovey 


Allen 


Castner 


French 


Howard 


Ames 


Chamberlain 


Frost 


Howe 


Andrews 


Chapman 


Frye 


Howell 


Austin 


Chubbock 


Fuller 


Hunter 


Bachelder 


Clark 


Garland 


Hutchinson 


Ballard 


Coburn 


Genthner 


Ingraham 


Barnard 


Cole 


Giles 


Irish 


Barrett 


Coombs 


Gilman 


Jackson 


Barrows 


Craig 


Ginn 


Jameson 


Battles 


Cram 


Gould 


Jewel 


Beckler 


Creamer 


Grant 


Johnson 


Benner 


Crockett 


Green 


Jones 


Benson ' ' 


Crosby 


Greenhalgh 


Judkins 


Bentz 


Crute 


Groso 


Kaler 


Bickford 


Cummings 


Gross 


Kelley 


Bigelow 


Cunningham 


Grotton 


Keene 


Black 


Curtis 


Gustin 


King 


Blake 


Cushing 


Guyott 


Kingsley 


Bohannan 


Cushman 


Hanson 


Kinsell 


Bonney 


Daggett 


Harford 


Kuhn 


Borneman 


Davis 


Harlow 


L,air 


Bowers 


Daw 


Harriman 


L/ane 


Boyd 


Day 


Hart 


Lash 


Bradford 


Dow 


Heald 


Law 


Bray 


Dresser 


Heath 


Leavitt 


Britto 


Drew 


Helmershausen 


Lebroke 


Broadbent 


Eaton 


Hicks 


Levensaler 


Brown 


Edgerton 


Higgins 


Lewis 


Bruce 


Elwell 


Hilt 


Lincoln 


Bryant 


Emery 


Hinds 


Littlefield 


Burgess 


Emmons 


Hinkley 


Loring 


Burkett 


Erb 


Hodgdon 


Longer 


Burnham 


Erving 


Hodgkins 


Love 


Burnheimer 


Eugley 


Hahn 


Ludwig 


Burns 


Farrington 


Hall 


Lufkin 


Burton 


Feyler 


Ham 


Lunt 


Caldwell 


Fiske 


Hamlin 


Mack 



FAMIIvY NAMES 



47 



Mank 


Paine 


Schwartz 


Tufts 


Manson 


Parker 


Shedd 


Tattle 


Marston 


Patten 


Shuman 


Twombly 


Martin 


Pearson 


Sides 


Tyler 


Mason 


Penley 


Sidelinger 


Underwood 


Mastin 


Perry 


Simmons 


Vannah 


Mathews 


Pingree 


Simonds 


Vanstone 


Maxim 


Poland 


Singer 


Vose 


Mayo 


Pollard 


Smalley 


Walker 


Mero 


Powers 


Smith 


Wallace 


Merrill 


Profit 


Soule 


Walter 


Merrow 


Rand 


Southwick 


Waltz 


Meservey 


Raub 


Spencer 


Weaver 


Mil) en 


Redman 


Sprague 


Wellcome 


Mitchell 


Reed 


Stacy 


Wellman 


Montgomery 


'Reynolds 


Stahl 


Welt 


Morse 


Rice 


Stain 


Whipple 


Morton 


Richardson 


Standish 


Whitmore 


McClintock 


Riddell 


Sterns 


Willey 


McKechnie 


Ripley 


Stevens 


Williams 


Nash 


Rivers 


Stone 


Wincapaw 


Nason 


Robbins 


Storer 


Winchenbaugh 


Needham 


Robinson 


Sukeforth 


Winalow 


Nelson 


Rogers 


Temple 


Wood 


Newbert 


Rokes 


Thayer 


Woods 


Norris 


Ross 


Thompson 


Woodward 


Oliver 


Royal 


Tibbetts 


Wyllie 


Orff 


Russell 


Tobey 


York 


Otis 


Sagely 


Tozier 


Young 


Paige 


Sargent . 


Trowbridge 




Page 


Scanlon 


True 





lKBJl'13 



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